Migration and settlement in the Eastern Anatolia region in the republic period (1923-1952)

The inheritance of an empire by the Republic of Turkey necessitated the taking and implementation of some extra measures on the way to becoming a nation-state. In this context, while the settlement of immigrants from its neighbors brought economic and political burdens to the state, it can be said that it also became an opportunity to establish its authority and maintain order in every corner of the country. In addition to the immigrants it received during and after the First World War, the settlement of the Exchangees, especially those arranged with the Treaty of Lausanne, seriously occupied the state. The Turkish state also evaluated the issue of the settlement of immigrants it received as a security and public order issue. It especially saw it as an opportunity to break the local sovereignty of feudal elements and to ensure a balanced distribution of the country's population in its geography. The Eastern Anatolia Region, where the state encountered intense security and public order problems due to both its population and socio-economic structure, was at the forefront of the regions preferred by the state as a place of settlement. In this context, it tried to establish an environment of peace and security by settling immigrants from outside the region and by establishing a new order and authority in the region by settling feudal elements that were seen as the source of security and public order problems in the region. The research tried to examine all kinds of migration and settlement activities of the Republic of Turkey in the Eastern Anatolia region between 1923-1952.